(Ha’erbin, China) On December 12, 2020, the Regional Rice Pavilion Longping Daohuaxiang Project - new product launch conference of Hami Group was held in Harbin. Leaders of the rice industry from various provinces and cities across China, grain industry associations, scientific research institutions, e-commerce platforms, city partners, and sales companies, as well as rice processing companies and rice cooperatives in Northeast China attended the press conference. The audience witnessed the new brand and technology demonstration of Hami Group's Hami Love brand and the collaboration of Longping Daohuaxiang project.

Yuan Longping, the father of hybrid rice and academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the US Rice Producers Association, and the National Japonica Rice Engineering Technology Research Center warmly congratulated the press conference.

The first Facebook lives cooking class featuring American long-grain rice was broadcast on September 25th in a project led by the USRPA in collaboration with USDA through ATO Monterrey. Overall, eleven recipes were presented throughout the month of October.

Chef Valeria Ochoa taught viewers to prepare Yakimeshi, a traditional dish in Asian cuisine, easily adapted to use American long-grain rice. The live event was attended by 637 users with continuous interaction and questions with Chef Ochoa addressing as many as she could while reiterating the versatility and nutritional value of American long rice.

To this date, the recorded cooking class has more than 5,500 views on Facebook the CONSUME ARROZ USA profile with many followers proudly sharing photos of their own results.

After a long hiatus of our in-store promotions in Mexico due to COVID-19, USRPA reactivated the campaign last month. For safety precautions, adjustments were made to our process and the booths.

Following the safety measures and adhering to social distancing guidelines, the promoters educate the shoppers on the benefits of incorporating American long-grain rice into their diets and sharing promotional items reinforcing its nutritional value.

The total sales of American long-grain rice during the in-store promotions from October 15 to 31 was 16,805 Kilos or roughly 37,048 pounds.
The promotional campaign will continue through December 2020.

The 20 tons of Calrose rice that arrived in China last month garnered positive feedback among consumers and importers.

The distributer, Sungiven Foods, sold the 5kg packages of U.S. rice under their private label, Sungiven US Calrose Rice, both online and in-stores. A social media page that was created to promote the rice includes a brief overview and history of the variety, including details about its growing environment.

Mr. Ray Zhang, Import Manager at Xiamen Mingsui Grains & Oils Trading Co. believes the majority of customers purchased the rice out of curiosity. He further commented, “We appreciate the support from the USRPA and their facilitating this business.”

The USRPA began working in China in the late 90s and then used the USDA-FAS’ Emerging Markets Program to launch the effort that established a phytosanitary protocol. USRPA continues a friendly relationship and open communication with buyers and looks forward to the next shipment.

US Rice Producers Association continues its efforts to enhance American long grain rice consumption in Mexico, this time with a program intended to create a gastronomic training experience by engaging consumers with professional chefs.

USRPA has been conducting cooking lessons through Facebook Live with the collaboration of Professional Chef Valeria Ochoa, teaching how to prepare delicious recipes with American long grain rice and constantly interacting with the viewers, solving their questions and advising them on different ways to include rice in their family’s diet. From a Rice with Chili to a Rice Pizza, USRPA followers have been learning amazing recipes to vary their rice consumption.

This series of lessons has been supported by USDA through the Agricultural Trade Office in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon. Director of ATO Monterrey and Luis Chavez, Marketing Specialist for ATO, stated his satisfaction with the current results and requested some of his favorite recipes to be included in the lessons.

The program will continue to perform for the rest of the year and will feature Professional Chef Melissa Morelos, finalist of Master Chef cooking contest and US Rice Producers Association’s ambassador in Mexico, who will teach traditional American recipes for the most demanding tastes. 

Harvest in Heilongjiang Province is currently underway for medium grain rice.  The province is in northeast China and accounts for 6 million tons of Chinese medium grain production and is known for growing award-winning medium grain varieties, including Wuchang and Yanshou.  Rice from the region is famous for its stickiness, sweet after taste and unique cooking properties thanks to its unique geographical location which provides a significant difference in day and night temperature and unpolluted soil.

The region from Ha’erbin all the way to Jiamusi has suffered 3 hurricanes this summer, causing lodging of soybeans and corn, while the majority of the rice crop survived.   Typically, harvest in the region is completed in early October, unfortunately, recent wet weather resulted in a slower than normal harvest.  Due to continuous rains, combines and machinery were not able to go into the fields, therefore most of the crop is dependent on labor harvesting, delaying harvest by another month.    

USRPA has developed a friendship with the rice industry in the Heilongjiang Province and welcomes the opportunity to visit with members and allied industries in the region for future trade missions with China.

This week ended the first segment of the Master Class of American long-grain rice produced in Mexico by the US Rice Producers Association. During the first segment, Chef Melissa Morelos, MasterChef Mexico contestant, and finalist, presented various recipes from Latin America with American long-grain rice as the main ingredient. The Master Class was broadcast simultaneously on Zoom and via Facebook live on the Consume Arroz USA fan page.

The second segment starts September 7th and features chef Joaquín Quezada, Chief Instructor at the Valle de México University and Director of the International Hospitality, Cuisine, and Tourism Management Center for Studies. Chef Joaquín Quezada will be preparing his take on traditional Mexican recipes with American long-grain rice as the main ingredient.
Currently, the fan page has a total of 16,369 followers of which 989 are new followers who have joined in the last month.

USRPA and ARROZGUA continue its success social media campaign. The interactive virtual cooking seminars, done in two stages, via Zoom has been shared on the Facebook fan page USA Arroz throughout June and July. The chefs demonstrated various rice recipes from around the world featuring U.S. grown rice, emphasizing its nutritional value and its ability to be easily incorporated into the everyday Guatemalan's diet.

U.S. Embassy Guatemala has been promoting the live cooking classes and inviting the audience to visit the USA Arroz Facebook fan page. The Facebook fan Page of USA Arroz increased 88% in the numbers of followers in the past two months and reaching audience all the way in Colombia, Peru, Mexico, USA, Argentina, Bolivia, and Ecuador. The social media campaign will continue until December.